Dominant

Chapter 24

I giggle as William sways his drink around, laughing. "Then we caught him, right? You should have seen it. Giant lion. The track was so cruel. Days with the heat at 102 degrees. We had little water. Little food. But we shot him dead in the chest."

I grab the glass of whiskey from his hand and smile, setting a martini in his hand. "Thanks for coming, Colonel, but for the rest of the night. How about we set you on something a little less, huh?" I plop a pink umbrella in his drink and he cringes.

"I hate pink," He mumbles as I walk off.

Richard runs up and smiles. "This party is great. Everyone came! Even the Mayor!" He says excitedly.

"Well. It's not every day Mark gets engaged, Richard. Come on. Have a drink. Relax. I'm going to go catch up with the Mayor." I pat Richard's back as Damien approaches me, giving me a tight hug.

"How fabulous of an evening this is going to be. Honestly, I haven't seen Mark this happy in a long time. For all you have done, thank you. Very weird for this to be so out of the blue. I didn't expect a proposal quite yet, but Mark has never been one to follow the rules." He jokes. "Please. Watch out for him."

"I will. How is Celine?" I say, sipping my champagne.

"I... We haven't talked in a while because of... Just some bad stuff from the past." He says bitterly.

"Hey. Um, Damien. I need to talk to you please." Abe says softly, grabbing his arm.

"Ah. Of course. Yes. Excuse me please." Damien shoots me a smile as he turns away.

"Welcome, welcome one and all!" Mark calls from the stairs. "Thank you for joining us on this auspicious evening. Now, tonight... It's not about the poker. It's not about me. It's about you." He says, gesturing to me as I smile and take a sip of my drink. "SO DRINK UP AND BE MERRY! Life is for the living, and who knows, I could be dead tomorrow." He says, laughing.

I take a sip as I stare at him, worried. Something isn't right.

The hours flew quick. Before I knew it, somewhere between keg stands, Russian roulette, drinking, beer pong, and intense poker, it is suddenly 2:50 am.

I stumble through the halls, struggling to keep my spinning vision straight ahead of me. I feel a delicate pair of hands grab my waist.

"A little too much to drink, love?" Mark whispers, leading me to his bedroom "Let's get you to bed." He mumbles.

"Y-You... Huh?" I whisper, confused.

"Damien saw you downstairs. He said you were wandering, so I came looking for you. Listen. And listen to me very closely. Okay?" He says helping me to bed. He begins yanking off my dress shoes, toss into them on the floor as he covers me up. "No matter what happens after tonight. Take care of the house. And my people. You are linked to my accounts. You get every cent if something happens to me. You hear me? Nod if you understand. Nod." He says sternly.

I nod slowly as my vision begins to fade.

"I love you so much. I'm doing this for you..." He whispers before I blackout.